BMW Confirms LMDh Program for 2023

Photo: BMW

BMW has confirmed that it will enter the LMDh ranks with an expected global sports car racing program beginning in 2023.

Revealed in a Instagram post by BMW M CEO Markus Flasch on Thursday, the German manufacturer has yet to make an official release detailing the extent of the program, other than Flasch indicating that it will begin at the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona.

As revealed by Sportscar365 in March, BMW had been evaluating the new joint ACO-IMSA top class platform, with Flasch telling journalists during last weekend’s Nürburgring 24 that he’s a “strong believer” that there’s room on top of its existing sports car racing programs for LMDh.

“It’s not up to just me to decide this,” Flasch said last week. “That’s why I can’t promise anything.

“But I didn’t take on the responsibility just to administrate the current status.

“We are looking into other formats and there will be decisions quite soon. I know where we come from. I know where our roots are. I am a strong believer that there is room on top of GT3.”

BMW’s expected factory entry into the top class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will likely result in a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a possible full-season FIA World Endurance Championship campaign as well.

It last contested top-class sports car racing in 2000 with the BMW V12 LMR (pictured above) in the American Le Mans Series and won Le Mans overall with the same car one year earlier.

BMW will join already-announced LMDh programs from Acura, Audi and Porsche, along with the expected imminent confirmation of Cadillac in the LMP2-based platform. 

Toyota, Peugeot, Ferrari and Glickenhaus have all confirmed programs built to the ACO’s Le Mans Hypercar regulations.

Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John